


A Simple Misunderstanding

by Onthecyberseas



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, F/F, F/M, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-18
Updated: 2016-09-18
Packaged: 2018-08-15 18:27:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8068096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onthecyberseas/pseuds/Onthecyberseas
Summary: Emma gets the opportunity to meet her new neighbor, but a simple misunderstanding puts a strain on their courtship.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mearcats](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mearcats/gifts).



> Happy Birthday Amber! Thank you to my beta for her help with this story.

The apartment clock read half past five when Emma went to get her mail. Grabbing her keys off the counter, she made her way down the hall. She reached the mailroom and found the mailbox with her apartment number on it. Opening it, she saw that there were a couple of envelopes sitting inside the box. Emma pulled the contents out before locking the box. 

She glanced through the mail, putting the letters addressed to her roommate to the side. It was mostly bills and a letter from Regina, presumably the invitation to her and Maleficent’s wedding. She saw that Ruby got an identical one as well. To her surprise, there was a letter addressed to neither her nor Ruby. The handwritten scrawl addressed it to a Killian Jones, whose apartment was right above hers in 205. Emma had seen a moving truck last week, but she had been so busy at the Sheriff’s station that she had no time to introduce herself. Better late than never she guessed.

Emma stuffed the letter in the pocket of her red leather jacket and walked up the stairs to the apartment above hers. When she arrived at the front door, Emma took a deep breath and knocked. After a few moments, the door opened and Emma found herself face to face with a handsome man with beautiful blue eyes and a charming smile.

“Hello, love,” the man said, bowing his head. “Killian Jones at your service.”

Emma tried to fight the blush that crept onto her cheeks, but her effort was futile. “Emma,” she stuttered, “Emma Swan.” She remembered why she had come and reached into her pocket for the letter. “This was in my mail.”

It wasn’t until Killian took the letter from her that she realized that he had only one functional hand. A shiny metal hook sat where his other hand would be. “A hook?” Emma asked. “Like Captain Hook?”

“Aye,” Killian replied, “I’m a Peter Pan fan.”

“I’m more of a Snow White fan myself,” Emma said.

“A fine story as well,” Killian glanced at the mail. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” Emma said. She was about to say something else, but a short brunette girl came up to the door. 

Killian introduced the girls to each other. “This is Belle. And this is our new neighbor Emma.”

Belle smiled and shook Emma’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Emma smiled and tried not to show her disappointment. “It’s nice to meet you too.” Of course a man as attractive as Killian would have a girlfriend. A pretty serious one if they were living together. She pretended to check her watch, “Well, I should probably get going. It’s nice to meet you both. If you need anything, my friend and I live below you in 105.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Swan,” Killian smiled, “Hopefully, I’ll see you around.”

Emma turned and walked back towards the stairs. As soon as she entered her apartment, Ruby ran up to her excitedly. “Guess what?”

“What?” Emma asked. Ruby had the tendency to act like a puppy when she was excited and Emma found it endearing.

“I met someone at the diner today,” Ruby said, “she was beautiful and I served her three iced teas before I worked up the courage to talk to her.”

Emma smiled, “That’s great, Ruby. Did you get her number?”

Ruby grinned and nodded, “I did. She lives in this building and I invited her and her roommate to my birthday party tomorrow.”

“I look forward to meeting her,” Emma said. They decided to order pizza and unwind by watching a Buffy marathon. Emma found herself thinking of Killian and her heart clenched at seeing how happy he and his girlfriend were together. Three episodes in and Emma went to bed, having a vivid dream of her and Killian, fully dressed as a pirate, traversing around Neverland looking for Peter Pan. They had their first kiss in the forest, but Emma didn’t get to enjoy it as her alarm clock cut into the beautiful dream.

Emma groaned and slammed the snooze button. She allowed herself a couple of moments to rest her eyes before throwing the covers off the bed. It was Saturday but there was still a lot to be done. She smelled pancakes coming from the kitchen and she stumbled out of her bedroom to find a stack of pancakes waiting for her, and Ruby by the stove cooking a batch for herself. “Morning,” Emma said sleepily, “Happy Birthday.”

“Thanks,” Ruby said cheerfully as she flipped the sizzling pancake, “Good morning to you too.”

“Do you want any help?”

Ruby shook her head, “I’m good. We have a busy day today.”

Emma sat at the table and pulled the plate towards her. She grabbed the syrup bottle and poured some on her pancakes before diving in. Ruby turned off the stove and brought her plate over to the table. She grabbed the syrup bottle and poured it over her pancakes, ensuring that each pancake was drowned in syrup. “Thanks for breakfast,” Emma said.

“No problem,” Ruby replied, “I know you were going to buy me breakfast at the diner this morning, but I felt like cooking.”

“It’s fine,” Emma said, “We’re meeting at three, right?”

Ruby nodded. Emma picked up her plate and rinsed it before placing it in the dishwasher. She figured she’d start her long to-do list for the day with laundry. She picked up the bag of dirty clothes and made her way down to the building’s laundry room.

When she reached the room, she saw Killian sitting on one of the dryers. She almost turned around but he saw her and called out, “Morning, Swan.”

Emma forced herself to smile, trying to ignore the racing of her heart. “Good morning.”

Killian jumped off the machine and walked over to her. “So, Belle and I have been invited to a birthday party this evening. I was wondering if you’d like to come as well?”

She gaped at him. He and his girlfriend were going to a party together and he was still asking her out? “It’s not going to work,” she said, “I have a birthday party I’m going to this evening as well.”

Killian seemed undeterred. “Perhaps another time.” The buzzer on the dryer rang and Killian opened the dryer and stuffed his bag with the clothes inside. He shut the dryer and closed the door. “See you around,” he waved goodbye before leaving the room.

Emma continued about her day, using her free time to take care of her responsibilities. When it was time, Emma went to Granny’s and met up with Ruby, Mary Margaret, David, and Regina. Ruby gave everybody instructions as they worked together to decorate Ruby’s grandmother’s diner for the party. 

Hours later and the diner was packed with partygoers. Emma bit into a bear claw as she people-watched. Ruby was the center of attention as several people came over to wish her a happy birthday. Ruby turned to the door and smiled brightly at the people entering the diner. Emma followed her gaze and, to her horror, saw Killian and Belle enter the diner. She tried to hide, but it was too late. Killian had seen her and was making her way over to her.

“Evening, Emma,” he said, “I see we’ve been invited to the same party.”

“Yeah,” Emma said, “Ruby is my roommate.” Suddenly, the music turned to a slow song. Regina and Mary Margaret dragged Maleficent and David to the dance floor and were soon joined by some more couples.

Killian held out his hand to her, “May I have this dance?”

Unable to contain her annoyance, Emma snapped, “Shouldn’t you be asking your girlfriend?”

He looked confused, “I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“What about Belle?”

Killian started laughing, “Belle is not my girlfriend. We’re just friends.” He glanced over the dance floor, “In fact, she seems much more interested in your roommate.”

Emma looked over and saw that Ruby and Belle were sitting in a booth, clearly flirting with each other. She realized that Belle must have been the girl Ruby was talking about last night, and that she had completely misunderstood the situation. “I’m such an idiot,” Emma said.

“You’re not an idiot,” Killian assured her, “It’s just a simple misunderstanding.” He slid across from her in the booth. “Am I right to assume that you were interested in me if it wasn’t for my ‘girlfriend’?”

Emma nodded and Killian grinned. Working up her courage, she asked, “Do you want to go out with me?”

“Shouldn’t I be the one asking you out?” Killian smirked playfully.

Emma laughed, deciding to play along, “What are you, old fashioned?”

“Perhaps,” Killian replied. He paused for a moment. “As long as you let me plan the date.”

“I know how to plan a date,” Emma replied, pretending to be offended.

“I’m sure you do,” Killian replied, “But you see, I have something rather special planned.”

Emma reached over and brushed his hand, “I look forward to it.”


End file.
